Museum of Military History, now open, welcomes in the public — and more donated items.

The Museum of Military History opened its doors on March 31. (Photo by Dave Raith).

FOUR CORNERS – Over the past weekend, when the Military Weekend Motorcycle Poker Run launched on Saturday from Harmony Town Center, it made a unique stop along the way: at the new Museum of Military History on U.S. 192 in Four Corners.
The motorcyclists taking part in the fund-raising drive went southeast of St. Cloud and then Kissimmee on U.S. 192, eventually ending up at the museum at 5210 W. 192, just past Poinciana Boulevard. Proceeds from this event are being used to support the museum, which also gave the participants a free tour of the new building, which just opened on March 31.
“They started off at 9:15 this morning in Harmony, and they’re coming here,” said Rob Dent, the museum’s marketing director. “Then we’ll be doing a drawing for the top prize.”
There was one other perk available, Dent noted.
“Everybody who participated in the event will get a free membership to the museum,” he said.
The poker run, which cost $25 per bike and driver and $15 for each rider, also helped put the spotlight on the new museum, which is still getting the word out that it offers something unique for the U.S. 192 tourism corridor: a museum devoted entirely to the nation’s past wars, and the people who served in them.
For one thing, the museum might not exist without the donations from local residents of the very historic items that they have made a part of their collection for others to see.
“Ninety percent of what we have in our collection was donated to us,” Smith said.
Pointing to all the historic items that had been donated to the museum – from uniforms to a flight simulator to an air launch rocket – Don Smith, chairman of the museum’s board of directors, said they get new items virtually every week, meaning there’s always something new to see at the museum.
“It’s so important to have a place where people can bring these things,” Smith said. “They’re not teaching military history in school anymore, and the kids have got to learn about it someplace.”
That’s a void that the museum eagerly hopes to fill. Originally housed in a much smaller office at the Osceola Square Mall, the museum’s collection of military memorabilia grew so rapidly that they quickly ran out of space. The directors were forced to look for a larger building, and found it in their current location.
“We’ve had people donate from all over the place,” Smith said. “We’ve had people in Polk County who have given us things, and Solivita is in Polk County, and they’re very active with us.”

All of the items at the Museum of Military History were donated to the staff by local families and veterans. (Photo by Dave Raith).

The Museum of Military History has a vast collection of historic items related to this nation's past wars. (Photo by Dave Raith).

Other rooms look back at the wars in Vietnam, Korea, the second and first world wars, and even the Civil War – any conflict where the museum ‘s staff can collect historic items.
That includes a flight simulator given to them, that soldiers use before they can get in front of the controls of a military aircraft.
“They have to master this before they can get in an actual plane,” Smith said. ‘’This is a flight simulator trainer. They have to master this first. Something in the panel goes off and he has to learn what to do with all the switches.”
The museum got it in the same way as everything else, Smith said.
‘’Someone called us up and said, ‘Hey, would you like a flight simulator?’ and we said ‘Sure we would,’ “ Smith said.

About Michael Freeman

Michael W. Freeman is a veteran journalist, playwright and author. Born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, he has lived in Orlando since 2002. Michael has worked for some of Florida's largest newspapers, including The Orlando Sentinel. His original plays have draw strong audiences at the Orlando Fringe Festival. He is the author of the novels "Bloody Rabbit" and "Koby's New Home."